North of Ithaka: A Granddaughter Returns to Greece and Discovers Her Roots (Paperback)

~ (Author) "My aunts said I'd be killed by Albanians and eaten by wolves..." (more)
Key Phrases: village president, Thitsa Kanta, Father Prokopi, Thio Angelo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Gage decided to take a break from her magazine career in Manhattan to rebuild her ancestral home in a Greek village in 2002, her father's four sisters, who'd by then emigrated to Massachusetts, were not amused. They predicted she'd be killed by Albanians and eaten by wolves. Even worse, they feared she would invite the curse of their mother—Gage's namesake—who, in 1948, was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed by a firing squad for plotting her family's escape to the U.S. during the Greek civil war (Gage's father, Nicholas, chronicled these events in his 1983 bestseller, Eleni). In rebuilding her grandmother's ruined home, Gage hoped to reverse some of the devastation her grandmother's murder caused. Those familiar with Under the Tuscan Sun–type expat tales won't be surprised when Gage becomes mired in massive amounts of bureaucratic red tape, but manages to fulfill her dream with the help of kind villagers. Her recounting of this odyssey is occasionally maudlin, but the scope of her rebuilding effort is Herculean enough to keep readers turning pages to see the finished product for themselves. Reconstruction of the original Gatzoyiannis home is overshadowed by the story's real meat: the building of a bridge between an American and her tough-as-nails roots. Photos. Agent, Andy McNicol at William Morris. (May)
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Review

"A tale of homecoming and reconciliation, ‘North of Ithaka’ proves the regenerative powers of home."

--The New York Sun

 

"Gage's vivid personal account captures the seasonal rhythms and everyday dramas of Greek life beyond the familiar resort islands, revealing a place that is, in the most traditional sense, old-world."
--Travel & Leisure

"Imbued with forgiveness, with the rebuilding of lives and houses, and moving on from tragedy...In coming full circle [Gage] has helped soothe the pain of a traumatized family."
-The Times Literary Supplement

"Ms. Gage's house project is partly an effort to move beyond the pain of memory. . . honest. . . amusing. . .she treats tradition with respect and history with realism."
--Wall Street Journal

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031234029X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312340292
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,971 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lia revisited, May 5, 2005

By	Alekos (Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: North of Ithaka: A Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past (Hardcover)

It comes as no surprise that Eleni Gage turns out to be a gifted writer. It runs in the blood, I guess. Her father is the well known Nicholas Gage who wrote, among other fine books, one about his mother Eleni who was murdered by Communist guerrillas in the Greek civil war just after WW II. When I read it a few years ago it left me in a state of shock for about a week.
The present more upbeat work recounts the author's yearlong stay in the village of Lia, close to the Albanian border, where she succeeds in rebuilding the very house in which her grandmother and other villagers were kept prisoners before being brutally murdered more than a half-century earlier.
The author wants to strengthen her sense of rootedness in Epirus while holding on to the values and habits of thought she has acquired as an American woman. She wants to fit into life in her ancestral village without being seduced by a mindset she has been conditioned to reject - or at least question. She encounters lots of customs and practices that can be classed as superstition or magic (or even idolatry) that the locals think are part of Christianity but which she finds only marginally acceptable. Most of the people she runs into treat her with great kindness and become her friends even though none of them are nearly as well educated as she. They are, in fact, mostly old or elderly.
The author experiences some emotional turmoil as the reconstruction process runs into some snags and delays, and as she has to deal with bureaucrats and others whose venality and incompetence would make a less motivated person wonder if it is all worth it. An almost constant presence in the book is the author's earthy Aunt Kanta, the Greek-born American lady who speaks imperfect English, believes everything in America is perfect, and has opinions on every conceivable topic, including why her niece is single and what she should do to get married. Even though Kanta is very in-your-face and sometimes a pain in the neck, she is still lovable. And so are the villagers. And so are the undocumented Albanians who cross the border looking for work.
During the year the author has some fascinating close encounters with groups of people who enrich her experience and teach her a lot about the importance of history and continuity in the life of groups and individuals. A group of uprooted Greek Jews arrive from New York and take her to Ioannina to visit what is left of their cemetery and synagogue. She spends some time with a Gypsy family who are involved in local politics and even gets to attend a Gypsy wedding. She goes on a "field trip" to make contact with the descendents of the Dorians known as Sarakatsani.
The thing I like most about this book, apart from its being very well written and sometimes lyrical, is its spirit of optimism and hope for the future - of humanity.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sequel to "Eleni", August 9, 2005

By	Emily L. Mitchell - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: North of Ithaka: A Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past (Hardcover)

For anyone who has read Nicholas Gage's "Eleni"--the story of his mother's death at the hands of the Communists during the Greek Civil War--"North of Ithaka" is a poignant, yet life-affirming sequel. Gage's daughter, also named Eleni, is a New York writer who returns to the family village in Northern Greece to reconstruct her grandmother's house, ruined by years of neglect. It's a difficult job, involving an unpredictable architect, bureaucratic obstacles, and strong-headed contractors, but Eleni perseveres, and despite her cosmopolitan background, grows to love the village with its simple rhythms and closeness to the Greek Orthodox faith. Her parents are part of the story, too, as they come to visit and check on the progress of the rebuilding. The finished house stands as a tribute to the lost Eleni. A very delightful book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the granddaughter speaks, January 17, 2007

By	Michael R. Bash (Thessaloniki, Greece) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: North of Ithaka: A Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past (Hardcover)

The star is still her grandmother, Eleni, killed during the Greek Civil War for trying to save her children. In a word, it's the story of Eleni returning to Lia, the family village, to remember her grandmother close up and rebuild the family house. Without the memory of reading ELENI by her father, Nick Gage, I would never have read or understood NORTH OF ITHAKA. So that's the review: first read Nick's book about his mother, most likely the most riveting and compelling of my 55 year reading career. You should read ELENI, and you must have to understand NORTH OF ITHAKA.